Souness must go ?

[broadsword]

Boersma's departure has been discussed before but I think it is probably the biggest influence on our poor form this year - without his trusted right-hand man to call on, I think Souey is being let down by the quality of his backroom staff, and this should be the first thing to be addressed this summer.

I thought Boersma left because of player discontent?

It seems like Souness can't win sometimes.

[tashor]

Four years ago, a great Scot, in whose symbolic shadow we stand joined Blackburn Rovers . This momentous appointment came as a great beacon light of hope to thousands of Rovers fans who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long days of first division football. But four years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Rovers are still not free of the threat of relegation.

Four years later, the life of Roverites  are still sadly crippled by the threat of relegation and the chains of discrimination. Four years later, the Rovers live on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. Four years later, the Roverites  still languish in the corners of the Premier league and find themselves rejected in their own land.

So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our team's defence to save our necks. When the architects of our league wrote the magnificent words of the rule book and the declaration of the laws of football, they were signing a promissory note to which every football fan was to fall heir.

These laws were a promise that all players would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that the premiership has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as its players of all team colours are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, the premiership has given all teams a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this sport.

So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind football of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of relegation to the sunlit path of premiership football. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of the Nationwide. Now is the time to lift our sport from the quicksands of sporting injustice to the solid rock of Sky broadcasting.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the Rovers and to underestimate the determination of Souness. This miserable winter with the threat of relegation will not pass until there is an invigorating spring of improved football quality. Two Thousand and Four is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Rovers needed to beat other teams and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the Nationwide returns to Ewood Park. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in the first division until the Rovers are granted their Premiership rights.

The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our team until the bright day of Champions League football emerges. But there is something that I must say to our players who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the promised league. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for victory by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our anti - referee protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new Premiership which has engulfed the football community must not lead us to distrust of all referees, for many of our black - shirted brothers, as evidenced by their presence on the pitch, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking is Souness right?, "When will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the motorways and the hotels of the cities on our way back from Ewood. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Rovers basic fan base is from a small ghetto in Lancashire. We can never be satisfied as long as a Roverite in Southhampton cannot attend and a Roverite  in New York believes he has nothing to contribute to our cause. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and Blackburn Rovers become  a mighty team.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of sporting brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the Rovers and learn that suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Manchester , go back to Arsenal, go back to Geordieland, go back to Leyland, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the Rovers dream.

I have a dream that one day this club will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all the best players  are created for Blackburn." I have a dream that one day on the green turf of Ewood the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to play together at the top of the table. I have a dream that one day even the state of Burnley, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of top level Dr Martens football. I have a dream that my  children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their shirts but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day in Blackburn, whose manager's lips are presently dripping with  words of swearing and frustration, there will be a transformation into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers in a Rovers wonderland. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every alley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be hallowed , the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Rovers shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I shout from my mouth . With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our football side into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to play together, to struggle together, to avoid relegation together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free to play in the Premiership another day.

This will be the day when all of Souness' children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My team, 'tis of thee, sweet players of liberty, of thee I sing. Ewood where my fathers died, pitch of the Rovers pride, from every mountainside, let Roverites sing." And if Blackburn are to be a great side, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of Lancashire. Let Ewood sing from the mighty stands of Jack Walker. Let Ewood sing from the heights of the Blackburn end. Let Ewood sing from the deserted Darwen end! Let Ewood sing from the early walking terraces of the Riverside! But not only that; let Ewood sing from everywhere in Lancashire!  From everywhere, let's hear Ewood sing!

When we hear Ewood sing, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every town and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of Ewood's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, and even Asians, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Ewood spiritual, " Gerinter'em...Geriter'em..............

[Gav]

Martin Luther King a great man!

[joey_big_nose]

Tashor, im Impressed!            

[philipl]

Just brilliant!

[ROYB]

Boersma's departure has been discussed before but I think it is probably the biggest influence on our poor form this year - without his trusted right-hand man to call on, I think Souey is being let down by the quality of his backroom staff, and this should be the first thing to be addressed this summer.

I thought Boersma left because of player discontent?

It seems like Souness can't win sometimes.

Some people just can't read. I didn't blame anyone for his departure, just stating it as a matter or fact and as a possible underlying reason for the slump in performances this year.

[ROYB]

Roy, I was agreeing with you RIGHT until the last paragraph.  I for one never want another season like this.  Have we seen any improvement or a steady erosion of everything to do with the club?  Why should it change next season if he stays?  The only bright spot for me is that none of the clubs which look like they're going to be promoted (with the possible exception of Wigan) have the money to buy to stay up - just as hopefully this season 2 at least of last seasons promotees will go back down (and Leeds.)

I'd just say "So long and thanks for all the fish, Graeme" and get someone else in- don't lets do the pathetic "who then?" again.  At the moment, anyone with a modicum of sense would do.

I tend to agree that, assuming we stay in the premier, on current evidence it looks like we are in for a difficult time next season, the only saving grace being the quality of teams promoted from Div 1. But expect West Brom to be in better shape this time (and they didn't really get turned over by many teams last time round). I think that will be the same - with or without Souness - and he may or may not start getting most things rights again. It is difficult to see right now who we know with some certaintly we could get who would be an improvement on Souness.

Last season tended to flatter to deceive. Many pundits considered our defence to be dodgy last year, but the difference was:-

(1) Brad was Superman for a year, and probably made the difference of up to a dozen goals against;

(2) The significant goals contribution from midfield which made up for the lack of goals from the forwards - both Dunn and Duff scored important goals which were crucial to the outcome of a number of matches.

All these are missing this year, hence the falling to earth with a bump.

[broadsword]

Boersma's departure has been discussed before but I think it is probably the biggest influence on our poor form this year - without his trusted right-hand man to call on, I think Souey is being let down by the quality of his backroom staff, and this should be the first thing to be addressed this summer.

I thought Boersma left because of player discontent?

It seems like Souness can't win sometimes.

Some people just can't read. I didn't blame anyone for his departure, just stating it as a matter or fact and as a possible underlying reason for the slump in performances this year.

That's rather provocative, and uncalled for.

I was querying something, raising a general point of interest, not attacking you.

[Hughesy]

Souness should go the title of the topic reads?!

Where is the logic in sacking a manager in the current climate.

Souness MUST stay

[ROYB]

Boersma's departure has been discussed before but I think it is probably the biggest influence on our poor form this year - without his trusted right-hand man to call on, I think Souey is being let down by the quality of his backroom staff, and this should be the first thing to be addressed this summer.

I thought Boersma left because of player discontent?

It seems like Souness can't win sometimes.

Some people just can't read. I didn't blame anyone for his departure, just stating it as a matter or fact and as a possible underlying reason for the slump in performances this year.

That's rather provocative, and uncalled for.

I was querying something, raising a general point of interest, not attacking you.

Fair do's.

On this subject though, I mentioned the departure of Boersma as one of the indicators of things beginning to go wrong particularly, as it would appear, it came about thru' unrest in the camp. I have no idea as to what happened behind the scenes, but I would like to think that Souness wholeheartedly supported his long-time coach who had been with him for many years at a number of previous clubs, but in the end it seemed that player-power prevailed.

[Clive]

Keep Souness until the end of the season. Then see if someone better is willing to come.

[Jan]

Clive

Agree

Although if he's willing to stand down, bite his hand off (we need the "honeymoon period" boost VERY badly)

[Clive]

Good lord !!! I need to lie down after that last post of yours Jan2  .

[Jan]

Nah- no need to be shocked

I've said since Christmas we can't afford to sack him as that wouldn't be good for the club's morale (ANOTHER sacking in not too many years), although if he resigned/got kidnapped by aliens etc I'd rejoice- and we'd get a) the honeymoon boost and a "lets do it for the gaffer" boost- well that's the theory

[Clive]

That theory sometimes works, but then the USSR was supposed to a step towards a stateless Communist society i.e. you have to be careful about these things.

The severance pay might prohibit a sacking during the season as well.

[Brownie1]

Yeah let's sack a manager who has signed every player in the current squad with the exception of the three who have extended contracts under him.

He's obviously cocked up again with Stead and Gray brought for peanuts !

What Howard Kendall up to these days ?

[Clive]

I don't know if that's aimed at me, but please read my last couple of posts again.

[The Gull]

(1) Brad was Superman for a year, and probably made the difference of up to a dozen goals against;

(2) The significant goals contribution from midfield which made up for the lack of goals from the forwards - both Dunn and Duff scored important goals which were crucial to the outcome of a number of matches.

All these are missing this year, hence the falling to earth with a bump.

1) Brad has still been playing very well and has made only the odd mistake as he did last year, however he is being given a lot more chances to make mistakes this year as the defeence has been poor.

2) If I remember correctly, another thread has stated how we have actually scored more goals this season than we did last.

Meaning that we haven't missed Duff and Dunn(especially) as much as people may think.

Duff also brought a workmanlike defensive attitude to the left side of midfield as well, our defence has changed week in week out and this means people are being caught out of position far too easily.

Please stop harping on about us missing the attacking attributes of these two players because it is blatantly obvious that the loss of Henning, don't think he would have continued that form this year however, the repeated injury problems of Craig Short, the problems Gresko has found defending the left hand side on his own, and the suspensions that Lucas Neil has served have been the main problems we have had so far this season.

Amoruso was brought in to replace Berg and he has been injured for the majority of the season also.

Was there a poll at the beginning of the season to see who thought we had a stronger or weaker squad?

I think there was and I definately would have voted for the stronger option.

People have very short memories and should realise what Mr Souness has done for this club and for that alone he deserves to be allowed some slack for a poor season.

If we are relegated or the form continues next season then fair enough, otherwise get off his back and try some positive thinking rather than negative.

Like the fact that we a very young exciting forward line, a couple of midfielders that are regarded as world class within the game, one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and some good youngish defenders.

Mix that with some experience that we have within the squad and it's not a bad recipe.

Everybody has a bad patch every now and then, even Man Utd, so please just stop this stupid talk if getting rid of one the best managers the club has ever had, just for now.

[RoverDrake]

a couple of midfielders that are regarded as world class within the game,

LOL

[Blackpool_Rover]

I cant belive this topic is still going. Souness had better not go anywhere. Hes building a new squad this season and yes its been tough but its been tough for about 16 other clubs in this league aswell.

Souness stays! a couple more players in the summer and we will be flying next season.

SOUNESS SOUNESS!!

[tcj_jones]

a couple of midfielders that are regarded as world class

in my eyes ferguson is regarded as world class.

but back to topic. clive put it best, sacking souness would be crazy! first off, there is nobody with the credentials, experience or talent of souness available - we could spend another 5-10 years trying to find an equal, in which time we could be in a far worse position. then theres the fact that he has built this squad himself and hasnt done a bad job! all to often managers are sacked for very little; indeed this season hasnt been at all good, but one bad season following 3 very good seasons is not reason to sack our manager. AT LEAST souness shoulkd have next season to turn things around.

as for next season... people are allready condemming us to a poor season! what is your basis? souness has the entire summer to strengthen or shift things around and he'll have his best players back from injury. people saying that our only saving grace is the clubs being promoted not having the finances of premiership clubs are crazy! firstly, weve seen newly promoted clubs having successful seasons - we didnt do too bad in our first season up. then theres the fact that we easily have a top 8 team, newly promoted clubs are hardly our "only" cushion from relegation! essentially we have a better squad then last season and have been painfully unlucky. other then the newly promoted clubs being our cushion from relegation we also have about half the league whom which we are better than.

if we dont finish in the top 12 next season, then feel free to quote me here and il accept that i was wrong but i cannot see us in another relegation scrap. 6-8th place is easily within our grasp.

[graysmark]

first off, there is nobody with the credentials, experience or talent of souness available - we could spend another 5-10 years trying to find an equal

im not saying that this is what should be, but if in the event that souness should resign/sacked, and chelsea should decide to dump the italian and go for Sven, then i would be more than happy if the club were able to sign Ranieri as our manager.

Lots of ifs and buts in there, but he is a man, who in my eyes, would be able to replace Souness, and who could be available this summer

[American]

(1) Brad was Superman for a year, and probably made the difference of up to a dozen goals against;

1) Brad has still been playing very well and has made only the odd mistake as he did last year, however he is being given a lot more chances to make mistakes this year as the defeence has been poor.

He hasn't been bad, but his reflexes aren't what they were last year. Last year he was making saves no one would ask him to. The differences is that this season he's not making near as many. Still one of the tops, but last season was a "career year" for Brad.

As for the Souness must go issue, give the man some time to play with a full strength squad that has had time together to gel. Next season we'll be back to where we were last year, if not better, with the squad that Souness has constructed.

[tcj_jones]

graysmark Posted on Mar. 02 2004, 13:22

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote (tcj_jones @ Mar. 02 2004, 12:35)

first off, there is nobody with the credentials, experience or talent of souness available - we could spend another 5-10 years trying to find an equal

im not saying that this is what should be, but if in the event that souness should resign/sacked, and chelsea should decide to dump the italian and go for Sven, then i would be more than happy if the club were able to sign Ranieri as our manager.

Lots of ifs and buts in there, but he is a man, who in my eyes, would be able to replace Souness, and who could be available this summer

ah good point. ranieri would be a very good option IF souness were to be sacked. but to sack souness would be a disgrace and, if i were a top manager, id be very much put off ever joining rovers if they were to treat their manager like that. but agreed, if souness wernt about, ranieri would be a great alternative.

[lofty2k2]

I have been ashamed of my football team for the past 2 weeks with the terrible management going on, Souness has lost the plot and hasn't got a clue he cant keep Yorke and Cole under control. After getting beat by Portsmouth Souness has to look at himself and say am I good enough to pull this club from the gutter maybe souness of 1 or 2 years ago but Souness of now cant. The firey Scot has lost his fire in his belly the lack of passion from the players is killing him. When theres no team spirit then it's time for change and at this stage of the season only the manager can go unfortunatly because Yorke, Cole, Emerton, Neil have no passion. Only Tugay, Friedel, Flitcroft, Gray and Todd where up for yesterdays game. Shorts defending was terrible which is unlike him. Rovers really do need to sort things out because Brad is getting beat too much off free kicks. I know alot of fans booed yesterday when Gray was subbed because he was by far the best player for rovers. Maybe souness could bring someone in to help him and groom for his job Colin Hendry???? I think he'd do good things a local hero and loyal and only lives down the road.